Tell the Tooth
by Thunder Magus
Summary: Everypony has fears. Everypony handles them differently. For some ponies, bad foalhood experiences can cause fear to transcend into paranoia. Such is the case with Rainbow Dash and the dentist. When the pegasus has worst toothache she's ever had it forces her to make a choice: face one of her absolute worst fears, or risk her friends finding out she's mortified of the dentist.
1. Chapter 1

"Ohhhhh! Mmmmm! Owwwwwwww!" Rainbow Dash rolled across her bed and grimaced, tightening all her muscles against the agony in her mouth. She'd tried all the homemade cures: gargling salt water, chopped cloves, even the bitter natural pain killer that was pure chocolate. Nothing helped to alleviate this sort of pain, which now had her biting down on her hoof with the good side of her mouth in a futile attempt to cram the torment down.

Rainbow Dash had a terrible toothache. The worst one she'd ever had, in fact. By far. The pain was tolerable the night before, but turned to excrutiating by that morning.

There was only one thing worse than the pain of her throbbing tooth, and that was the images it conjured: a napkin draped around her chest, the bright light in her eyes; a strange pony sticking his hooves in her mouth. Horrible memories from foalhood. Dash cringed as she remembered how awful that hook felt scraping against her teeth, not to mention the foul taste of rubber gloves and the sting of that needle they used to numb her mouth. However, none of those things where even close to being the worst part of the experience. The worst part was definitely the drill. That awful, noisy drill. Just remembering how terrible it felt against her tooth sent a chill up the pegasus' spine. The mere thought of it brought the taste of burnt enamel into her aching mouth and pierced her ears with that loud, high pitched whirring.

Of course, Rainbow Dash was too proud to admit she was completely horrified by the idea of going to the dentist. There had to be some way to get rid of that toothache, and soon. She was supposed to meet Twilight Sparkle to borrow the next Daring Doo book that afternoon. Knowing how concerned and sappy Twilight could be, there was no doubt in Dash's mind that the lavender unicorn would notice her friend in excruciating pain, ask her about the toothache and why she didn't see a dentist about it. Then she'd have to tell her that she was scared of the dentist.

Dash gasped in horror at an even more startling thought. Twilight would tell Pinkie Pie! The bubbly pink earth pony couldn't keep her mouth shut for more than a second. All of Ponyville would know about her dentist-phobia. She'd be the laughing stock of Ponyville. No, all of Equestria! Even Princess Celestia would laugh!

Dash repeatedly slammed her face down into her pillow in frstration, half from being unable to rid herself of the pain and half from the thought of her friends discovering her fears. What did a pegasus have to do to cure a toothache? The most obvious answer was to see the dentist, but Dash wasn't about to pay that sadist a visit. She could ask Twilight to get rid of the pain with her magic, but that would only be temporary and the unicorn was bound to ask questions. Asking Colgate for help would only prompt her to give a long lecture on how important good dental hygiene is.

There was only one answer Dash saw no harm in when she thought about it: asking Zecora for some sort of remedy. That old zebra had cures for every ailment Dash had ever heard of, and probably some she hadn't. She HAD to have SOMETHING. Nothing to lose but a toothache, Dash figured.

Dash flew out into the afternoon sun from her home in Cloudsdale and headed in the direction of Zecora's hut in the Everfree Forest. Ponyville's buildings looked like toys from that high up, and the ponies looked like ants crawling about their business. Dash only hoped one of them wouldn't recognize her and want to stop for a chat.

"Good afternoon, Rainbow Dash!" a familiar, elegant voice called from below. "Would you mind terribly stopping for a chat?"

Dash looked down to spot Rarity smiling up at her. The pegasus pressed her hoof against her face, half in irritation and half from the pain. Nervously, Dash pushed against the back of her tooth with her tongue, an action she regreted the instant it sent a jolt of agony surging deep into the tooth. Dash had to hold her breath to keep from yelling as she descended towards the dirt road. When her hooves hit the ground, Rarity was still beaming widely.

"Oh hey, Rarity," Dash said, inwardly fighting tears of pain, "what are you so smiley for?"

"I just got my teeth whitened, why shouldn't I show them off? Aren't they spectacular?" Rarity proclaimed with pride. She parted her lips to show off her best smile.

A lump formed in Dash's throat. THIS little priss went to that tooth-yanking wacko? _WILLINGLY?! _

"You went to the…" The pegasus paused to gulp down that ever-growing lump. "DENTIST?"

"Oh, but of course. I go twice a year. You know what they say: a pony is only as beautiful as her smile!" Rarity's lips parted even wider to show off her dazzling white teeth.

"And you're not afraid?"

Rarity lifted her forehoof to wave off Rainbow's question. "Of course not, darling! Dr. Neighnamel is gentle as a lamb."

How could this tussied-up creampuff not be scared of the dentist? It was humiliating! Dash did a facehoof in disbelief. If it was HER stuck in that dentist's chair, she could gaurantee she'd tell him everything he wanted to know.

Rarity's smile transformed into a look of concern for her friend. "Are you alright, Rainbow Dash? You seem upset."

She stiffened her muscles, doing her best to ignore the pounding pain in her tooth. "Who, me? I'm fine! Why shouldn't I be fine? There's no reason to be afraid of going to the dentist when you feel like somepony's using a jackhammer on your tooth, right?"

"What are you-?"

Dash groaned. She'd said too much and wasted no time in bolting back into the air. "Gotta go!"

Rainbow Dash flew off towards the Everfree Forest as fast as her pain-wracked world would allow her to. At least her conversation with Rarity hadn't attracted a crowd, but the blue pegasus couldn't afford to be stopped by anypony else. Every ounce of her pride was at stake!

But this was no ordinary toothache. Dash had toothaches in the past, all of which she could make go away with pain medicine or just waiting it out. Not this toothache. This was the toothache from the Gates of Tartaros. She couldn't concentrate, eat or sleep with this sort of pain. Whatever the underlying cause might have been, one thought made her shiver in dread. It could be something that only be fixed by a dental specialist, not painkillers.

Needles, sharp hooks, pliers, drills...

She'd sooner DIE than go back to the dentist who'd terrorized her since she was a filly.


	2. Chapter 2

The dancing leaves of the Everfree Forest's trees blotted-out much of the afternoon sunlight, veiling the woods in a seemingly-eternal blanket of darkness that Rainbow Dash couldn't get used to, no matter how many times she went there. Yet, even these haunting woods were far better than being strapped into a dentist's chair and forced to endure every form of torture Tartaros could throw at her.

Dash welcomed the almost alien creaks, croaks and howls of the forest over the whirring of a drill in her mouth. Even the strange eyes that seemed to peek at her from every shrub and burrow didn't bother her if it meant they weren't the eyes of a dentist shoving sharp metal tools in her mouth.

A quick surge of pain in her tooth reminded the pegasus why she was winging her way through the Everfree Forest in the first place. She flew faster, straining her mind to focus on anything but the horrible pain.

At last, Zecora's tree-hut came into view. Dash wasted no time in planting her hooves on the ground and knocking on the zebra's door. Eager to rid herself of the pain, Dash danced in place while she waited for what felt like forever for Zecora to answer. Finally, the door opened. Oblivious to her guest's agony, Zecora smiled.

"Ah, what a surprise! It is Rainbow Dash before my eyes! Tell me, my dear, what brings you here?"

"Hi, Zecora." Dash's voice was strained from the pain. "I need one of your cure-alls."

Zecora stepped backwards a few paces to invite the pegasus inside. "Then step in, you must. I will have what you seek, I trust."

"Thanks." Dash stepped inside the ominous-looking tree hut, sighing with relief as the door closed behind her. Even if it wasn't as bad as the dentist's office, the Everfree Forest was still a tad creepy for her liking.

"Please, wait here," Zecora ordered, as she walked towards the archway to a separate room. "I am finishing up another project, I fear."

Dash grimaced, stamping her front hooves to block out the pain. "Uh, sure thing."

Glancing about the room, the pegasus found herself with somewhat of an uneasy feeling, now that she was alone for the moment. Though her doubts about Zecora were tamed a long time ago, something about the strange hut still made Dash's skin crawl. The fact that it was inside the Everfree Forest didn't help matters any.

Maybe it was those strange looking mask-like decorations hanging on the wall. Dash knew that they symbolized a friendly welcome in Zecora's homeland, but to a native Equestrian they seemed...odd. Creepy, even. Dash wanted to put sunglasses on them to hide the hollow, piercing eyes that seemed to stare into her soul, laughing at her. Laughing at her fears.

There were also the multitude of jars and flasks of various shapes and sizes sitting on the shelves all about the room. They contained Zecora's cure-alls, which she brewed in the large black cauldron hanging above the fire in the middle of the room.

Potions everywhere. Potions lined up on shelves against the wall, potions sitting on the floor, potions hanging from the ceiling; potions in every color of the rainbow. It was amazing that anypony, or in this case, any zebra, could make so many single-hoofedly.

"Thank you for waiting, Rainbow Dash," Zecora said, suddenly reappearing from the other room. "What ails you? Have you a cold, or perhaps a rash?"

"Um, neither," Dash replied. "I just have this really bad toothache that won't go away."

The zebra nodded sagely. "Of cures for toothaches, I have a list. The first thing you should do, is see a dentist."

The pegasus reared up and spread forelegs in annoyance. "That's it?" she cried in disbelief. "With all the tonics and remedies you have in here, the best you've got is 'see a dentist?!'"

Zecora crossed the room to one of her many shelves against the wall and from it, selected a flask filled with a teal liquid.

"I can gladly give you something to help ease your pain. But until you see a dentist, a full cure you will not gain. Until then, rub this ointment on your gum. It will quickly make the pain go numb."

Dash groaned and did a facehoof. ANYTHING but the dentist! Under her breath, she apologized to Celestia for any wrongdoing she'd committed to deserve such a fate.

"I completely understand your fear, but you need to see a dentist, my dear."

Dash stiffened in surprise; that Zecora was so easily able to decipher her emotions was unsettling to say the least. "Fear? Who says I'm afraid? I'm not afraid of ANYTHING that starts with a 'D'! Not dungeons, dragons or dentists!"

Zecora clicked her tongue and shook her head as Dash snatched the jar from her mouth and zipped out the door in a huff. The pain that poor pegasus was in must have put her in a delusional state. She certainly hadn't made much sense with her last statement.

After a shrug, Zecora walked over to a wooden end table and reaching down, bounced a small bag full of bits on her hoof. "Plus, I frankly must admit, a kickback from the dentist I do get," she said to herself with a chuckle.

The next stop on Rainbow Dash's list was Twilight Sparkle's Golden Oaks Library. But before the pegasus did anything else, she wanted that throbbing, persistent ache to go away. She plucked the cork from the stopper of the jar and sniffed its bluish-green contents. It didn't really have a smell. With nothing to lose, Dash upended the flask to her hoof. She didn't want to risk applying too little, so she waited until a good sized glob had built up, and then rubbed it on her gum below the tender tooth.

A surge of ecstasy forced Rainbow to wilt and sigh in relief. The pain faded away in a matter of seconds. It had never felt this good to be out of pain, not even when she'd recovered from a broken wing! Dash shoved the cork back into the neck of the flask and held the container in her mouth with an eyes-closed smile, confident that she'd just found herself a new best friend. Just to celebrate the good riddance of that terrible pain, Dash burst above the treetops with newfound vigor and soared towards Twilight's library as fast as she could.

Only a few minutes passed before she was back in Ponyville and hovering above Twilight's library. Now that her toothache

was gone, she'd be able to concentrate on reading again, something she hadn't been able to do otherwise, and word of the horse's mouth was that this new Daring Do book was one of the best in the series.

Descending gracefully, Rainbow Dash pressed her hooves to the ground and invited herself into the library. As usual, Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her favorite chair, reading. The bells above the door chimed, grabbing the lavender unicorn's attention.

"Oh, hi, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight set her book down and trotted over to her guest. "Ready for 'Daring Do and the Emperor of the Night?' This one's supposed to be a doozie!"

Dash craned her neck and set the flask on the floor for a moment. "I keep hearing that," she replied. "I hope it was worth the wait."

"I'm sure it will be, I'm anxious to read it, myself. Wait right here and I'll grab it for you."

As Twilight sauntered through the bookshelves, Dash smiled and picked the flask up again with her teeth. Twilight wouldn't have to know about her toothache and fear of the dentist after all! Her reputation was saved!

"Ah, here it is!" Twilight's voice rang. Her horn glittered with magical energy as she reached out with a telekinesis spell and pulled the book from the shelf. It continued to hover in front of her she while guided it to Rainbow Dash.

As Dash prepared to open her mouth to accept the book from Twilight, she realized she still had that flask between her teeth. Dash glanced around nervously, hoping that Twilight wouldn't ask any questions. The pegasus held out her right hoof instead.

Twilight raised an eyebrow for a few seconds, then placed the book in Dash's hoof. Before she could make a retreat, Twilight's voice stopped her. "Hold on a second, Rainbow Dash."

_Shoot! _Dash thought to herself. Against her better judgment, she turned back around. "What's up?"

Twilight inched closer to study Rainbow's face more closely. "What's with that flask you have there?" she asked suspiciously. "And why are your eyes bloodshot? You must have gone to Zecora's. You're not sick, are you?"

A few nervous seconds ticked by as Dash fought an inward battle for the right thing to say. Her eyes must have been bloodshot from fighting against the pain all day!

"Um... yup." Dash pretended to check her forehead for fever. "You know what, now that you mention it, I think I am coming down with something." She turned her head to deliver a pathetic-sounding fake cough. "I, uh... better get home and get some rest. Thanks for the book, Twilight!"

Rainbow shot off in the air before the unicorn could inquire any further. So far so good; her reputation was still safe.

Still… Zecora's words echoed in the back of her mind:

_I can gladly give you something to help ease your pain. But until you see a dentist, a full cure you will not gain._

Zecora wasn't the type to lie, a thought that made Dash shiver in dread. The very idea of that horrible toothache coming back was almost as frightening to her as a trip to the dentist. In that moment, Dash decided that whatever the dentist would do to her couldn't be much worse. Gathering every ounce of her courage, she nodded to herself. Rarity had mentioned something about a pony named Dr. Neighnamel being a very gentle practitioner… maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

The next thing on her to do list was get an appointment with him, before the pain came back or, Celestia forbid, got even worse.


	3. Chapter 3

Every muscle in Rainbow Dash's lean body shuddered as she stepped onto the front patio of Dr. Neighnamel's office. Tomorrow morning was way too soon for her liking, but she had stupidly said "yes" when the receptionist offered her the earliest available appointment in Neighnamel's schedule, which Dash had learned was due to the doctor's original client reportedly chickening-out at the last minute.

She cursed her luck. How in Equestria was she supposed to prepare herself to face one of her absolute worst fears in less than 24 hours? She needed more time, but as a pegasus, she lacked the means to stop or turn back time. Even Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful unicorn she knew, could only travel back in time for roughly one minute before being warped back into the present.

Nearby, a mint-green unicorn and a cream-colored earth pony with a purple and pink mane took a few moments to stare at the shivering pegasus. Dash felt their eyes upon her and shot them a glare.

"What are you staring at?!" she snapped. The unicorn and the earth pony shied their eyes away in submission. Scowling, Dash opened her wings, then shot upwards towards the sky.

There was no way she could return to Cloudsdale in her current state, trembling with fear and anxiety. It was bad enough that the ponies of Ponyville had nearly discovered her fears, but the very thought of her fellow Cloudsdaleans finding out was just plain unbearable. What if the Wonderbolts heard about it? They'd never let a pony who was afraid of the dentist join, it would make them a laughing stock!

Ponyville was far beneath Dash now. It looked like nothing more than a scale model replica of the village. A large, soft cloud nearby beckoned for her attention. She performed an aerial loop and placing her hooves on the floating, cotton-like substance, dropped to her haunches to think.

She didn't want to go to the dentist. She wasn't ready. But she also didn't want that horrible toothache to come back, either. Then again, if she went and got it over with, nopony would have to know she was afraid. Dash set her Daring Do book down (thankfully, Twilight had put a spell on it to keep it from falling through) so she could scoop up a pillow-sized blob of cloud and clutch it against her torso. The soft, puffy facets of it gave her something of a sense of comfort. Yes, much as she hated to admit it, just going in and getting it over with seemed like the best idea. She squeezed the cloud harder. Why did it have to be so hard to face one of the few things she was genuinely afraid of? Exhaling wearily, she let her makeshift pillow go, grabbed her book and flew off in the direction of Cloudsdale.

****

Normally, Rainbow Dash welcomed the familiar sights of her home: its majestic waterfalls, the rainbows arching over the city, Cloudsdale's flags dancing proudly in the breeze; the various architectural pillars adorned with stripes and spirals. Any other time, she might have paused for a moment to admire it all. Today, however, she just wanted to get home before somepony saw her and started asking questions. Taking a deep breath to try and steady her nerves, she flew on towards her house at an even pace in an attempt to not draw attention to herself.

She passed the bluish-grey twins, Cloudchaser and Flitter, engaged in an animated conversation with each other. A certain lazy-eyed blonde mare with a grey coat passed above, headed in the opposite direction. One large-bodied white stallion with ridiculously tiny wings perched on a cloud to her right and flexed his massive foreleg muscles, shouting "Yeeeaaah!" to nopony in particular.

Thankfully, not one of them paid any special attention to the rainbow-maned pegasus. She flew on.

Finally, her own house came into view. She flew in through her bedroom window, grateful to be away from the prying eyes of the world outside. But now a new problem presented itself: it was still mid-afternoon. What could she do until morning to take her mind off of that all-consuming fear? As she hovered in place, wings fluttering, her attention drifted back to the book she carried.

Might as well start on another fantastic Daring Do adventure, she thought with a shrug. Landing, she set her flask of Zecora's pain elixir on the nightstand next to her bed. Looking at it made her grateful that the toothache hadn't come back yet.

Pulling her favorite blanket around her, the one adorned with a giant version of her rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark, Dash snuggled into bed and opened up her book.

She read until the last light of dusk had disappeared over the western horizon and stars began to dot the sky, stopping only for a quick supper. This time, as the title suggested, Daring was up against Sh'Danusk, the ancient Emperor of the Night, an evil alicorn who made even her old enemy, Ahuizotl, look like nothing by comparison. A thousand years ago, the Emperor had been nearly unstoppable, his tyrannical reign finally ending only after he was sealed away in an ancient tomb. Unfortunately, the tomb had been accidentally rediscovered in the present day, near the bottom of a recently-excavated mineshaft, allowing him to escape and once again set terror upon the world.

The story had been riveting. How was Daring supposed to stand up to somepony so powerful? Dash couldn't wait to find out, but fighting pain and being wracked with anxiety all day had sapped most of her strength. She let out a sleepy yawn, then set her book on the nightstand, trading it for Zecora's painkiller. Dash dipped her hoof in the flask and applied some of the teal-colored ointment to her tender gum, then shoved the cork stopper back in place. Setting the flask down on top of the book, she blew-out her lamp and nestled-in for some much-needed sleep.

The next morning...

Rainbow Dash stepped into Dr. Neighnamel's office. The waiting room was quiet. The only ponies in there, aside from the receptionist,were a young, blue-maned unicorn filly around Sweetie Belle's age, and her similarly-colored mother. Gulping, Dash approached the reception desk.

"Um." Part of her wanted to turn for the door and fly away as fast as she could, but Dash took a deep breath to steel her nerve. "Hi." Despite her efforts, she couldn't keep her voice from coming out in a note of anxiety.

"Rainbow Dash?" the middle-aged unicorn mare behind the desk asked, looking up from her paperwork. She had a faded, poofy red-orange mane, a tan coat and wore a pair of half-moon spectacles in front of her magenta eyes.

"Yeah. Here for a nine o'clock appointment."

"Have a seat. The nurse will call your name when the doctor's ready."

Dash gulped again and took a seat, trying hard not to fidget. The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow, as she waited for the nurse to call her. It took everything she had to ease her nerves; the last thing she wanted was to frighten the filly next to her.

Lacking anything better to do, the pegasus turned slightly in her seat and watched the child for a moment. With her eyes squeezed shut in what seemed to be considerable effort, the filly struggled and then finally succeeded in making her stubby little horn glitter with a dim light; just enough magic to levitate a set of crayons from a box on the coffee table in front of her. Pleased with herself, the filly smiled widely at the sight of the floating sticks of colored wax, then with a little more effort, began to move them across the pages of a coloring book on her lap. If her mother took any notice of the feat, she didn't show it, being totally engrossed in the novel she was reading, "The Pony of Zenda."

Which reminded Rainbow…why, oh, why hadn't she brought her Daring Do book to read? She facehoofed, mentally cursing her oversight.

"Rainbow Dash!" called a somewhat gruff, but feminine voice.

Dash looked up. The nurse standing in the corridor adjacent to the reception desk, a clipboard balanced on one hoof, was a pale-yellow earth pony mare of late middle-age. Her curly, two-tone grey mane was bound-up in a hairnet and beneath upper eyelids smeared heavily with matching grey eye shadow, she peered out at the world with a set of stern, but deceptively gentle green eyes. She looked familiar. Hadn't she been one of the nurses at the hospital that time she'd broken her wing?

She glanced momentarily at the older mare's flank. No, it couldn't be her: the nurse at the hospital had had a white cross with tiny pink hearts in each corner for her cutie mark…this one had a large white tooth and a blue toothbrush for hers. Still…the resemblance between the two was uncanny; twin sisters with similar career choices, perhaps?

"Rainbow Dash!" she called again, a bit more insistently, glancing down at the clipboard.

The pegasus stood up from her seat. "Um, right here!"

"This way, please," the nurse said, impassively, setting the clipboard aside and then turning and walking down the hallway towards the examination room.

After a moment's hesitation, Dash slowly trotted after her.

"Have a seat, dearie," the nurse said, indicating the large, reclining dentist's chair with her hoof. "The doctor will be with you shortly."

Without waiting for a reply, the nurse turned and briskly walked away, leaving the pegasus alone again. Swallowing hard once more, Dash regarded the chair and the collection of various hooks, tooth extractors, drills and other tools of the trade in the rack beside it (implements of torture, in her opinion) with disdain, but finally climbed up into it and planted her rump on the seat with a muffled "plop."

Dash tapped her forehoof against the arm of the chair. Her hind leg spasmed with anxiety. All she wanted was for the dentist to hurry up and get in here so she could get this over with, but what would he actually do? Would he want to drill the tooth, or even worse, pull it out? Would the numbing shot hurt as bad as she remembered?

"Good morning, Miss Dash." A stallion's voice pulled Dash from her thoughts, causing her leg to spasm even harder. She wasn't ready!

"It's about time!" Dash shouted before she even had time to think about what she was saying.

"It's only been thirty seconds," the voice informed her.

A middle aged stallion with a wild, unkempt mane that was completely grayed with age stepped in front of the chair. His coat was a ghastly shade of ice blue, even paler than the Great and Powerful Trixie's, like a pony who had frozen to death. Behind his glasses were a pair of eyes set deep in their sockets and surrounded by dark circles. They were a dull pastel yellow in color and lacked the luster most ponies had in their eyes. To Dash, they looked positively evil.

"You're Dr. Neighnamel?" she asked incredulously.

The creepy-looking stallion pushed his glasses up with a hoof. "Oh, I'm afraid Dr. Neighnamel won't be in today. I will be treating you instead. I'm Dr. Payne, D.D.S."

Dash scratched the back of her head. Her spine tingled. D.D.S.? Was that "Doctor of Dental Science" or "Doctor of Depraved Sadism"?

A clipboard floated in front of the dentist as his eyes scanned the notes scrawled on it. From the glow surrounding it, Dash could tell that Dr. Payne was holding it in place with magic, but how was that possible? He was clearly an earth pony, not a unicorn. Maybe he'd sold his soul to a demon from the pit of Tartaros in exchange for some of its power; it would be the perfect tradeoff. She shivered at the thought.

"I see here that you have been suffering from an acute and persistent toothache." The doctor looked up from his clipboard and flashed a menacing smile. "How delightful."

The doctor's harsh, grating and miserly tone sent an unpleasant tingle crawling its way across the ends of Dash's fur and made the tips of her hooves prickle. Not to mention his ugly, unkempt appearance. Of course, Dash was no Rarity when it came to judging other ponies by their appearance, but Dr. Payne was in his own league of ugly.

Eyes darting, Dash sat up straight. "Um, no offense, Doc, but you're really starting to creep me out, so I think I'm just gonna leave now."

Before Rainbow could follow up on her statement, the doctor, in a lightning-quick move, shoved her back down onto the chair, then pressed a pedal mounted to the base of it. Instantly, a pair of cuffs extended from the arms of the chair and wrapped around Dash's wrists, while a second pair emerged from the lower edge and pinned her ankles down. She felt herself being thrust backwards and before she even had time to contemplate what was happening, found herself staring up at the ceiling.

Now wearing a pale green facemask, Dr. Payne approached his captive, leering down at her with those dark, eerie eyes.

"No, my dear. I'm afraid you're not going anywhere until we've given the ol' chompers a look-see. Now, open up and let's see what the issue is, shall we?"

After a gulp, Dash opened her mouth. Dr. Payne creeped her out enough as it was; she didn't want to run the risk of provoking him.

Glittering magic energy surrounded a hook, which lifted into the air and found its way into Dash's mouth. The sharp, pointy tip of it came within millimeters of the cavity on Dash's bad tooth. The pegasus shuddered. That was too close.

"Ah, you're referring to this one, no doubt."

Dash's body jolted from a shot of agony. Not TOO close. Right on target! Payne had stuck her right in the deep cavity with that hook!

"Hmmm," Dr. Payne said. He didn't seem to pay any heed to the pain he was inflicting. "Just look at that pit of decay. Indeed, this tooth must really be killing you."

Dash continued to moan and struggle.

A demonic grin formed across Payne's compassionless features. "Relax, Rainbow Dash. Pain is just your body's way of telling you that I'm having the time of my life." Payne pulled the hook out of her mouth. Rainbow let out a small sigh of relief. Though... what could he have planned for her next? The thought raked Dash's nerves like a set of claws.

Cold sweat ran down her face. Dash wished she could at least wipe it off, but her hooves were still bound to the chair.

"Now that I know what's bothering you, it's..."

Fast, nervous panting came from Rainbow Dash. She was sure she was hyperventilating. She couldn't even see what Dr. Payne was reaching for next. As fate would have it, she didn't have to wait long. Dr. Payne turned back around. To her utter horror, a small drill hovered in front of him.

"…time for drillin'!"

Dash struggled with all her might. This must have been how Daring Do felt when she was tied to a stone pedestal in a room that was filling with quicksand! She closed her eyes, hoping it would make that drill go away, but it just kept getting closer. When she could take it no more, she shouted.

"WAAAAIIIT!"

The horrible high pitched whirring stopped. Thank Celestia!

Dr. Payne pulled down the mask from his face. "What is it now?"

"Well, I'm not really the biggest fan of needles, but I still think I want to be numbed-up before you start." Dash couldn't keep from shuddering. Without anesthetic, that would have hurt. A LOT.

"Darn, you figured it out." Dr. Payne turned back around. Dash sighed in relief at no longer having that drill next to her face when he set it back down on the tray. The strange doctor gave a sigh and continued to speak as he dipped the needle of a syringe into a vial of clear liquid. "You smart patients are so boring."

He turned back around again, full syringe hovering in front of him. "Ok, if this hurts, just tough it out!"

She supposed the needle wasn't as bad as the drill, but Dash closed her eyes anyway. A sharp prick stung her gums, though it didn't hurt nearly as bad as she'd remembered.

"Listen to you. Whining and moaning, just to get a quick shot of neigh-vocaine."

Dash opened her eyes again after she felt the needle being pulled out of her gums. To her surprise, Payne had already grabbed the drill again with his magic. She was sure she wasn't numb yet!

"Oh, what am I thinking? How silly of me. This just won't do, will it?"

For what she felt must have been the hundredth time that morning, Dash sighed in relief as Dr. Payne set the drill back down and left the room. Before she had much time to wonder where he'd gone, he came back in, this time, carrying an industrial carpenter's drill the size of a small filly.

"There we go!" His face twisted with a look of insane glee as the huge drill bit began to spiral, its motor emitting a menacing growl. "Now, open wide!"


End file.
